Samsung Announces Smart Home at CES

Ahead of CES 2014, Samsung has announced its entry into the home automation space with its Samsung Smart Home service.

The Samsung Smart Home Service will enable smart TVs, home appliances, and smartphones to be connected and controlled via a single integrated platform.  The Smart Home product and logo will debut at this year’s CES, and will roll out to consumers in the first half of 2014.

Samsung aims to partner with third-party vendors by extending the service to its products and services in hope of dominating the connected world.

“With Samsung Smart Home, we are bringing our capabilities as the world’s number-one manufacturer of smart devices to make the connected home a reality for consumers today,” said Wonpyo Hong, President, Media Solutions Center, Samsung Electronics.

“In the coming days, we will continue to roll out better home services to our consumers to enable them to keep enjoying a brand-new experience of ‘Smart Living and Beyond.”

The service will initially provide three main features: Device Control, Home View and Smart Customer Service.  These features will allow users to set up customized settings and use a dedicated app on their smartphone or smart TV to control and monitor their homes, even when they’re out of the house or country.

It can also be programmed to perform multiple tasks with a single command.  Simply say “Going out.” to your Galaxy Gear and selected connected devices such as your smart TV and lights will be turned off.  You can also customize the system for various situations, such as when going to sleep.  Thermostats will automatically be adjusted, lights dimmed or turned off, and surveillance cameras turned on.

There’s also a chat feature that allows users to communicate with their Smart Home, so it’ll be like talking to your home when you want to turn things on or off.  This feature isn’t entirely an original one as LG has a similar offering also debuting at CES 2014.

Samsung is really covering a lot of ground when it comes to the connected world.  It recently filed a patent for electric vehicles, and though the company claims it doesn’t intend to produce an EV of their own, it certainly has the resources to do so.  Samsung stated that the filing signifies they will be developing parts and components needed for EVs and smartcars.